Hand tool for making cloth-covered buttons



Aug. E9, 193W G. WOLFE 2,529,351

HAND TOOL FOR MAKING CLOTH-COVERED BUTTONS Filed July 26, 1947 ;a' FIG.5.

FIG. 1.

ATTQ RNEY.

Patented Aug. 29, 1950 HAND TOOL FOR MAKING CLOTH-COVERED BUTTONS GeorgeWolff, New York, N. Y.,.assig nor to John. Dritz & Sons, New York, N.Y., a. copartnership Application July 26, 1947, Serial No. 763,965

. 2 Claims. 1

This invention relates to a hand tool for makingcloth-covered buttonassemblies.

One object of the invention is to furnish improvements in the artwhereby cloth covered buttons can be manufactured manually, with theassistance of a simple tool, as distinguished from manufacture byautomatic machinery and the like.

More particularly, it is an object of the invention to permit adressmalter or housewife to produce such buttons b using the same clothas that of the garment upon which she is working, and to do this withoutrequiring a large cumbersome expensive-machine or press;

Differently stated, the object of the invention is to provideimprovements whereby the assembling of cloth-covered buttons iscompleted by simple manual impact of any ordinary hammer or'thelike.

Another object of the invention is to furnish improved means forthemanipulation of the parts of such buttons to facilitate theirassembling in aparticularly easy and expeditious manner, and withoutliability of accident or mistake.

Gther objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent asthe specification proceeds.

With the aforesaid objects in View, the invention comprises the novelfeatures, combinations and arr-a *ETQEIYGS of parts hereinafterdescribed in their preferred embodiments, pointed. out in the subjcinedclaims, and illustrated. in the annexed drawing, wherein likepartsiaredesignated by the same reference characters. throughout theseveral views.

In the drawing:

Figure l. is a view of a device embodying the invention, one-halfthereof being shown: in elevation and the other half in. section.

- Fig. 2 is an edge view of. a button. of the cloth covered typeproduced in. accordance with the invention.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the cloth. disc used in making the button.

Fig- 4 is an edge view of the cup-like metallic shelli about which thecloth is stretched to form the head of the button.

Fig. 5 is an edge View of the base oflthe button furnished with theconventional cloth projection.

Fig. 6. is a view of the device with parts in section and parts removed,illustratin the initial step according to the invention, with the. clothdisc and the superposed metallic shell1operatively positioned therein.

Fig. 7 is a similar view showing theplunger die into an opening wherebythe cloth is upwardly marginally folded according to the next step ofthe. process.

Fig. BL is: a similar view illustrating certain sue-1 seeding. steps ofthe process with the metallic shellr upwardly moved. to cause the clothto be inwardly horizontally folded over the shell, whereupon the buttonbase is freely inserted to rest upon the. infolded' clothportion and theplunger inserted 'in. operative position in readiness tocompletetheassembling.

Eig: 9 is a. similar View illustrating the final step of. the processwith the assembling completed: upon impact: of a hammer uponthe plunger.

Theadvantages of the invention as here outlined are; best realized whenall of its features and instrumentalities are combined, but usefulembodimentsm'ay belproduced involvingless than the: whole.

It will be obvious to: those skilled in the art to which the inventionappertains, that the same maybe: incorporated: in. several differentconstructions. The accompanying drawing, therefore, is submitted merelyas showing a preferred exemplification of. the. invention.

Referring in detail to the drawing, l0 denotes a device embodying theinvention and illustrating one possible. meanszfor thepractisesof theprocess; The device 10 comprises a die having a first or lower die meansH and a second or upper die means #2. The different means include freelymovable parts: so coordinated as to be adapted for; the manualproduction of a cloth-covered button !3 of any well-known type; Thebutton $31 is assembled by utilizing the three parts l4, l5: and Hiillustrated. in Figs. 3, 4 and 5 respectively- The part It consists of asimple disc of cloth, but the; material; thereof may be varied to suitand may also. consist of leather, plastic compositions, and the like.The part I5 consists of a metallic cup-like. shallow shell preferablymade of metal but also adapted to be formed of anyother suitablematerialhaving the requisite strength. The part I16 consists preferablyof a prefabricated portion having a relatively stiff ii'ange: and; a:central projection iii of cloth or any other suitable material which isadapted to be sewn to. a garment. The. flange portion i'! may consist.of very thin metal in which the marginal portions. of the cloth [8 arestrongly secured by; a: stiff? disc at cardboard or the like, but this,structure being conventional has not been shownz. The flange i'l'isadapted tolbe press- 3 fitted into the shell IS with the marginalportion of the cloth disc l4 clamped between the edge of the flange andthe cylindrical wall I9 of the shell, whereby the cloth is stretchedtaut and assumes the concise configuration of the curved dome of theshell.

Buttons such as l3 have been manufactured by automatic machineryemploying dies having parts interconnnected for only limited relativemovement and with interposed powerful springs so that such constructionswere not at all adapted for the manual manufacture of the buttons.According to the present invention, the moving parts are so freelyinterrelated as to be easily manually operable and to be adapted for aspecial manipulation to facilitate the handling of the parts |4, I5 andHi so that any dressmaker or housewife can easily produce the buttonswithout requiring special instruction. A particular feature of theinvention is that an ordinary ham mer or the like can be used tocomplete the assembling of the button in a perfectly durable andreliable manner.

The lower die means includes a plurality of parts adapted for relativeaxial movement, comprising a die element 2| having an opening 22 orbeing otherwise of tubular form. This element 2| is open at its oppositeend and adjacent to its upper end it is formed with a plane horizontalcircular seat 23 above which extends an annular circular flange 24.Accordingly the element 2| may be regarded as of step formation. Theother part of the die means 2| may consist of a member 25 snuglyslidably fitted in the opening 22 and having an undercut portion or neck26 extending therearound and into which projects a motion limiting orstop pin 21. At its lower end, the element 25 may be formed withcircular flange 28 adapted to form a seat for the bottom of the element2|. 25 may have a central concavity 29 which may approximate the form ofthe dome 28. The element 25 actually constitutes an anvil with theconcavity 29 lying approximately in the plane of the seat 23.

The upper die means i2 comprises a guide member 33 adapted to bereleasably received or engaged by the flange 24 and adapted to snuglyseat on the surface 23. Within the member 38 is a central circularpassage 3| coaxial with the anvil 25 and adjacent to the lower end ofthe passage there is an outwardly flared bevel 32 whose maximum diameteris approximately equal to that of the concave seat 29. snugly slidablyguided in the member is the head 33 of a plunger 34 having a shank 35.The member 33 may be hollow to form a compartment 35, the member 33being thus at least partially of tubular form with its lower end beveledat 3'! to form At its upper end, the element a continuation of the bevel32. At its upper end,

the member 33 may have a flange 38 adapted to seat on the upper end ofthe member 30. The shank 35 may have an undercut portion 39 removably orpermanently press-fitted into a central hole of the member 33, or thelatter may be produced as a one-piece structure with the shank 35. Theterm plunger may be used to generally designate a die member comprisingthe head 33 and the shank 35. In this structure, all the parts arecoaxial except as otherwise stated. The structure is very small,compact, light in weight, and may be inexpensively produced by screwmachine operation, or in any other feasible manner, or the various partsmay be cast or molded as desired. Any suitable material may be employedthat is sufficiently strong to take the impact of a hammer at the upperend of the shank 35 as hereinafter more particularly described.

According to the first step of the process, the cloth disc [4 and thesuperposed shell 20 are placed in the die member II. The flange 24centers the disc which snugly fits therein, and the disc of course restson the plane seat 23. Then the member 38 of the upper die means I2 isengaged within the flange 24 and is permitted to rest upon the cloth M.The bevel 32 of the member 36 marginally engages the shell to accuratelycenter the same and to slightly press the shell downwardly until thecloth snugly fits into the concavity 29 of the anvil 25. In thiscondition the member 2| may rest upon the flange 28, while the member3!! is relatively projected only according to the thickness of thecloth.

In the assembly of Fig. 6 it is noted that the plunger 311 has beenremoved. This plunger is now inverted and the shank 35 thereof isinserted through the guide member 30. The reason for this is that theshank 35 is of sufiiciently reduced diameter so as to be adapted toenter the shell 2%] and to afford ample clearance with respect to thecloth l4. While the element 2| is held in one hand, the plunger 34 ispushed downwardly to force the shell into the opening 22, the anvil 25being correspondingly projected as far as permitted by the stop pin 21,so that the fabric It becomes upwardly cylindri-cally folded to projectwell upon the shell 20. Now the plunger 34 is removed, Then the operatorhods the elements 2! and 3e tightly together to prevent any separationthereof, while downwardly pressing the anvil 25 against a table or othersupport. This causes relative upward movement of the anvil withcorresponding movement of the shell 20 and cloth it to the positionshown in Fig. 8. During such movement of the anvil 25, the cloth isinwardly deflected by the annular bevel 32 so that the cloth now assumesan annular, horizontal, inward extending fold. If it were attempted toproduce this fold by utilizing ones fingers, the effect would beirregular, the cloth might slip out of position, and considerably moretime would be consumed. With the cloth folded over the edge of the shell20, the anvil cannot return to its initial position, and is onlypartially returned as shown in Fig. 8, further movement being resistedby the member 30.

According to the next step of the process, the base portion N5 of thebutton is inserted in the member 30 to rest upon the folded portions ofthe cloth, then the plunger 34 is inverted and the head 33 inserted intothe member 38 with its bevel 3'! engaging and. centering the flange llof the base. The assembly is now in readiness for the final operationwhich involves causing a hammer 4| to exert a powerful impact upon theshank 35. Due to this impact, the anvil 25 is caused to move relativelyupward or the element 2| is caused to move downwardly and at the sametime downward movement of the base I6 is caused, with the flange curlingthe material at 40 inwardly into the shell 29, and with this flangeentering the shell, causing the cloth to be stretched taut and beclamped between the side wall i9 of the shell and the edge of the flangeThis completes the assembling operation, the different die means II andE2 may now be separated and the completed button l3 removed, ready foruse.

It will be noted that because the members 34 and 30 of the upper diemeans |2 are free of each other, they can be separated and the member 34inverted to the positions of Figures 7 and 9 to accomplish operationswhich greatly facilitate the handling of the parts of the button.Because in addition, the die means i! and i2 are completely separablefrom each other, it is possible to use the member 30 to facilitate theinfoldin of the material in the manner indicated at 4!] in Fig. 8, inwhich case the base it may be directly utilized to push the cloth intothe shell 20, and without danger that the cloth might shift so that animperfect button would result in which the cloth might not becontinuously clamped within the shell. Other advantages in the easy andexpeditious assembling of the buttons by a housewife without requiringspecial instruction are apparent.

It is further noted that the invention provides improved apparatus andmethods whereby the assembling of a cloth-covered button is completed bya simple manual hammer impact, thus avoiding the need for a machine orpress. The parts of the device In so movably cooperate as to facilitatethe final assembling by the hammer impact.

I claim:

1. A hand tool for making cloth-covered button assemblies comprising alower die means and an upper die means, the lower die means comprisingan outer die part having an axial opening and an inner anvil partcoaxially fitted in said opening, said parts having relative axialmovement between contracted and extended positions, the outer die partand the inner anvil part having top faces which mate when these partsare in their relatively contracted position for seating a cloth disc anda superposed centered button shell, the said upper die means comprisingan outer guide member having an axial passage and a plunger having ahead coaxially fitted in said passage and a shank extending upwardlyfrom said head, the plunger and guide member being separable, the guidemember being separably receivable by the outer die part of the lower diemeans with the passage of the former ooaxially alined with the openingof the latter,

the said plunger being movable against the centered button shell andinto the axial opening of said outer die part to force the shell intothe said axial opening while causing the anvil to be moved to itsextended position, thus causing the cloth disc to be upwardly foldedabout the shell by the wall of said opening, the guide member whenreceived by the outer die part acting upon relative contracting movementof the anvil for infolding over the shell the previously upwardly foldedportion of the cloth disc, the said guide member passage when theplunger is separated therefrom being adapted to receive and center abutton base over the thus infolded portion of the cloth disc, the headof said plunger when fitted into the passage of said guide member beingthen adapted, upon striking the shank of the plunger with a hammer blow,to force the button base and the infolded portion of the cloth into saidshell to complete the button assembly.

2. The hand tool of claim 1 in which the shank of the plunger has areduced diameter relative to the axial opening of the outer die part,the plunger when removed from the guide member being invertible and theshank thereof insertible into said axial opening of the outer die memberin the operation of forcing the centered shell into said axial opening.

GEORGE WOLFF.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Germany May 5, 1886

